Angie Vachio

Angie Vachio co-founded PB&J Family Services Inc. in 1972, a non profit agency in New Mexico that serves families with significant challenges including parental incarceration, and served as its Executive Director for 35 years. PB&J has programs based in New Mexico’s adult and juvenile correctional systems, serving parents in prison and their children in the community, in addition to serving families with difficult issues such as domestic violence and child abuse. Vachio also was a founding member and continues to serve on the Board of the New Mexico Women’s Justice Project, an advocacy group for women and girls in the correctional system. A child and family advocate, she currently serves on the N.M. Sentencing Commission, the N.M. Commission on the Status of Women, the Juvenile Justice Commission, the Early Childhood Council, the Prison Reform Task Force, the Reentry Council, Blue Ribbon Commission on the Welfare of Children of Jailed and Incarcerated Parents, and has served on the N.M. State Parole Board. Angie Vachio has her Masters degree in Special Education, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from UNM for her work on behalf of children and families. She is a frequent lecturer concerning the effects of violence on children and the impact of parental incarceration on children. In 2005, she authored a chapter concerning children of incarcerated parents in About Children: An Authoritative Resource on the State of Childhood Today published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.